Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Harland Sanders is buried at Cave Hill Cemetery. One can follow a yellow line from the main entrance to the colonel's grave. It's really worth the visit. Cave Hill is beautiful, filled with wonderful flowers, trees, and monuments. The Sanders memorial is a delightful walk and a bit of Kentucky history. As the trees turn, before it gets too cold, take a moment to visit the colonel.

World ReligionsPhilanthropists who paid for the resotration of Louisville's historic Cathedral of the Assumption will be honored and thanked for their contributions in November. The foundation overseeing the renovation has changed its name and mission and is now focusing on interfaith relations among the world's religions. It is based at the cathderal offices.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Half an hour south of downtown Louisville lies a refuge for all seasons, the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest. Bernheim's attractions include an arboretum and 35 miles of hiking trails.

Isaac Wolfe Bernheim, a German immigrant who succeeded in distilling, established the forest in 1929 by assembling 14,000 heavily farmed and logged acres in Bullitt and Nelson Counties. Frederick Law Olmsted designed Bernheim Forest's original layout. Bernheim gave his Forest for the future enjoyment of his fellow Kentuckians.

Today's forest consists of an arboretum and a natural area. The arboretum contains formal and informal plant collections. The visitor's center is Kentucky's first platinum-level LEED-certified building. In the natural area, primarily a beech-maple forest, visitors can explore over 35 miles of hiking trails, ranging from casual strolls to a strenuous, all-day excursion on the Millennium Trail. The Quiet Garden offers especially serene views of Lake Nevin, the largest of Bernheim's four lakes.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

The Town Clock in New Albany, Indiana stood as a beacon of freedom to 19th century runaway slaves looking for a narrow place on the Ohio River where it was safe to cross and safe to land. Many runaways crossed at Louisville, a large slave trading market early in the 19th century. This photo, taken as Louisville peace pilgrims went to the site on Saturday, illustrates how narrow the river is at this point.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Summa cum debitumSo while we’re focused on debt, bail-outs, rescue plans and the appropriate public policy to deal with the financial crisis created by mortgage-backed securities, let’s look at, think about and even do something with the monumental problem of student loans.

Over the last decade or two, we have transformed a significant number of young people into a legion of debtors holding degrees awarded summa cum debitum. In many cases, students have been prepared for jobs that don’t exist or a life’s work that cannot amortize their student loans. And just as mortgages were bundled and sold as investment securities, student loans have been packaged and sold as bonds, many on the infamous auction-rate securities market that collapsed last February.

The adverse social, civil and political impact of student debt is not limited to those who incur it unwisely, those who fund it improvidently or those who invest in its securitized structures unsuccessfully. Civil society depends upon a wide range of skills to invent, perfect, make, maintain and operate its wheels and gears. When the allocation of work is driven by the need to pay onerous loans, terrible societal dysfunctions result.

Many young people have started life with little and some have started with nothing but today a significant number are starting with even less.